In recent years, considerable concern has grown with regard to the phenomenon known as acid rain. Acid rain is caused by the condensation of gases such as sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide which are emitted into the atmosphere during the burning of sulphur-containing fossil fuels such as coal. See The Acid Rain Source Book by Elliott and Schwieger for a thorough explanation of this phenomenon. The burning of sulphur-containing coal typically occurs during the production of electricity as fossil fuels are burned to produce heat to, in turn, produce steam which is employed to effect the turning of a turbine in production of electricity.
In addition, the burning of fossil fuels produces other harmful effluents including carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and nitrous oxide. These effluents have been deemed to be unsafe for human intake and are believed to be the source of another adverse environmental phenomenon known as the greenhouse effect, a result of which is global warming.
Accordingly, it is to be appreciated that the burning of fossil fuels in the production of electricity and in other industrial processes is believed to be a primary source of two of the most environmentally threatening phenomena of the day, namely, acid rain and the greenhouse effect.
In order to avoid resort to nuclear sources in achieving levels of production of electricity that are necessary to sustain industrial and other needs, it has long been recognized that the capture of noxious emissions of effluent gases is a requirement for environmental and human safety. Most approaches to the problem of effluent emissions known the prior art consist of the treatment of the discharged gases with absorbents, catalysts, and other such chemical and mechanical approaches for the removal and/or conversion of the gaseous effluents. These prior art efforts have proven to be expensive and cumbersome to implement and, as such, have not enjoyed widespread acceptance except in those areas where the strictest governmental enforcement occurs. Therefore, a need has long existed for a cost-effective means of control of effluent gases from industrial processes.
The present invention provides an emissionless furnace apparatus and method that not only captures effluent gas emissions but, in addition, separates and re-cycles most of these emissions to thereby further diminish the cost of implementation of the inventive system.